Sanitary wear

ABSTRACT

A device for retaining a sanitary pad, incontinence pad or the like in position in a nether garment comprising a first element having means for attaching to the pad or the like, or to a loop or tab attached thereto, and a second element which may be pressfitted to the first element.

SANITARY WEAR This invention relates to sanitary wear, and is especiallyconcerned with a device for supporting a catamenial appliance, e.g., asanitary towel or pad, a babys diaper or an incontinence pad, within anether garment, e.g., a pantie or tights, or waterproof pants.

Various devices are available for supporting appliances of this type.One device comprises a belt, normally of elasticated material, which isprovided with hooks, cords or other attaching means for attaching to therespective ends of the sanitary appliance which itself may be providedwith hooks, or, more normally, loops. In another device a specialcompartment is provided in the garment for accommodating and retaining asanitary pad. Many variations on these themes have been proposed andused over the years.

Apart from the fact that these earlier devices are quite expensive tomanufacture, the main drawback, so far as the user is concerned, is thatthey are rather uncomfortable. The object of the present invention is toprovide a support for a catamenial appliance such as a sanitary padwhich is both inexpensive to manufacture, and thus cheap to buy, and inuse is extremely comfortable.

According to the invention a device for retaining a sanitary pad or thelike in position in a nether garment comprises a first element havingmeans for attaching to a sanitary pad, or to a loop or tab attachedthereto, and a second element which may be press-fitted to the firstelement.

In use, the first element is assembled with the sanitary pad inside thegarment, the sanitary pad being placed in the desired position insidethe garment. The first element is then held against the material of thegarment (suitably at the front of the garment) and is press-fitted tothe second element, which is offered up to the outside of the garment.Thus the device is held firmly in place, by means of the material of thegarment which is caught between the two elements, and consequently thesanitary pad, attached to the first element, is also held firmly inplace.

The two elements forming the device of the invention may be made fromany suitable material, and suitable materials include textile fabricsand, particularly, thin sheet plastics materials such as polyvinylchloride. For maximum comfort the elements of the device will be veryflexible, in order to be able to take on the shape of the adjacentregion of the wearers body.

The means provided on the first element for attaching a sanitary pad toit will, of course, depend on the particular pad used. Thus, the saidmeans may be a hook or clip, for attaching to the loop or tab formed atthe end of some sanitary pads, or it may be one or more tabs forattaching to that type of pad formed at its ends with a hole or holes.

The press-fit between the two elements of the device may be formed byone or more press-studs, the male halves of which are provided on one ofthe elements and the female halves of which are provided on the otherelement. In order to minimize the risk of tearing or laddering thematerial of the garment caught between the pressstud halves when thedevice is being used, the press-studs are preferably made of a materialwhich is softer than the yarn of which the garment material is made.Plastics materials such as acetal resins are particularly suitable forforming the press-studs. In

a preferred construction the two elements of the device are formed fromthin p.v.c. sheet and the press-studs are of an acetal resin.

The first element, i.e., that which, in use, is inside the nethergarment, may if desired be provided with an additional piece ofmaterial, e.g., plastics material, which is larger than the sanitary paditself and is disposed between the pad and the material of the garment;this gives greater protection to the garment. This additional piece ofmaterial, which may be shaped to fit round the sides of the pad, may befixed to the garment at the back or sides if required, for example bymeans of a further device or devices according to the invention.Furthermore the rear end of the sanitary pad may be fixed to the back ofthe garment by a further device according to the invention, although itwill normally be sufficient simply to attach the pad at the front of thegarment.

The device of the invention is cheaper than the normal sanitary belt,and is much cheaper than special sanitary garments. It may be worn withany type of nether garment, e.g., panties, tights and girdles, and ismore comfortable than any other device used for suspending the externaltype of sanitary pad. The device can be provided in various colours, inorder to merge with the particular garment with which it is being worn.Its position in the garment is infinitely variable, so that it may bemade in a single size and yet be used by persons of widely differentsizes. Furthermore, it can remain in position in the garment when asanitary appliance is not being used, without interference with thecomfort of the wearer.

The invention is illustrated in the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a piece of the materialforming the front of a nether garment to which one form of sanitarypad-supporting device is attached;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic side view of the device of FIG. 1 in position;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1, showing a modifiedsupporting device; and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1 showing a further embodiment.

In the drawings, a piece of the material forming the front part of anether garment, e.g., a pantie or a pair of tights, is designated 1. Theentire garment is not shown, for the sake of simplicity.

Referring specifically to FIGS. 1 and 2, the supporting device is madeup of two pieces 2, 3 of thin sheet plastics material such as polyvinylchloride. Piece 2 fits inside the garment and is provided with extensionstrips 4, 5, 6 and 7. Strips 4 and 6 are folded over and attached tostrips 5 and 7, respectively, by means of press-studs 8 and 9,respectively, which are pressed together through two holes formed at theextremity of a sanitary pad 10.

Piece 2 is also provided with the female halves, l1 and 12, of twofurther press-studs, the male halves, 13 and 14 respectively, of whichare attached to the other piece, 3, of the device. Piece 3 is of aboutthe same size and shape as piece 2. All the press-stud components arepreferably made of a material such as an acetal resin.

The device is used by attaching the inner component, piece 2, to thesanitary pad by means of strips 4 to 7, holding piece 2 against thematerial of the garment l,

and pressing the male halves 13, 14 of the press-studs provided on piece3 into the female halves l1, 12 on piece 2, with the material 1 betweenthem. The material 1 is firmly held between the respective halves of thetwo press-studs, and so the device 2, 3 is fixed in position on thegarment.

In the device illustrated in FIG. 3, which is basically similar to thatof FIGS. 1 and 2, the inner component 2 of the support device has asingle downwardly depending central tab which carries a hook 16 at itslower end. The loop 17 of a sanitary pad (not shown) is looped over thehook 16 to attach the pad thereto, and the device 2, 3 is assembled asbefore.

The supporting device illustrated in FIG. 4 is again basically the sameas that illustrated in FIG. 1, and comprises two pieces 2, 3 of thinsheet plastics material, such as polyvinyl chloride, provided withpressstud elements 11 and 12, 13 and 14 respectively. Piece 2 ispositioned inside the nether garment 1 and piece 3 outside, and thedevice is retained in position by pressing the pieces 2 and 3 togetherwith the material of the garment 1 firmly held therebetween.

Attached to piece 2 is a loop 15 of similar material to that of piece 2.The loop 15 is advantageously attached to piece 2 by heat-sealing alongthe line 16. The loop 15 carries a suspender element 17 of conventionalconstruction, which element 17 is adapted to be secured to a sanitarypad. For example, the flexible part 18 of the element 17 may be passedthrough the loop of a sanitary pad and then secured to the rigid part 19in the conventional manner.

It will be seen that in each case the device 2, 3 may be placed andretained in any position on the garment, and thus may be used by allpersons, whatever their size.

What we claim is:

1. A holding device for a sanitary pad and like article, said holdingdevice comprising holding means for holding a sanitary pad and likearticle in position within a nether garment, said holding meansincluding at least one two element attaching device, a first element ofsaid attaching device being particularly constructed for mounting withina nether garment and including attaching means for attaching a sanitarypad to said first element, and a second element of said attaching deviceformed separate and apart from said first element, and

cooperating securing means on said first and second elements forinterlockingly securing together said first and second elements with aportion of an associated nether garment releasably clamped therebetween.

2. A holding device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first and secondelements are formed of a material selected from textile fabric and thinsheet plastics material.

3. A holding device as claimed in claim 2 wherein the first and secondelements are formed of thin polyvinyl chloride.

4. A holding device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said attaching meansis of the class including a hook, a

clip and one or more tabs.

5. A holding device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first element isprovided with means for positioning between a sanitary pad and the likeand the material of the nether garment.

6. The holding device of claim 1 wherein said securing means includepress-stud components.

7. A holding device as claimed in claim 6 wherein the press-studcomponents are made of an acetal resin.

8. The combination of a nether garment and a holding device as claimedin claim 1 wherein the first element is disposed entirely inside thegarment, the second element is disposed entirely outside the garment,and the first and second elements are interlockingly press-fittedtogether with the material of the garment between them.

1. A holding device for a sanitary pad and like article, said holdingdevice comprising holding means for holding a sanitary pad and likearticle in position within a nether garment, said holding meansincluding at least one two element attaching device, a first element ofsaid attaching device being particularly constructed for mounting withina nether garment and including attaching means for attaching a sanitarypad to said first element, and a second element of said attaching deviceformed separate and apart from said first element, and cooperatingsecuring means on said first and second elements for interlockinglysecuring together said first and second elements with a portion of anassociated nether garment releasably clamped therebetween.
 2. A holdingdevice as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first and second elements areformed of a material selected from textile fabric and thin sheetplastics material.
 3. A holding device as claimed in claim 2 wherein thefirst and second elements are formed of thin polyvinyl chloride.
 4. Aholding device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said attaching means is ofthe class including a hook, a clip and one or more tabs.
 5. A holdingdevice as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first element is provided withmeans for positioning between a sanitary pad and the like and thematerial of the nether garment.
 6. The holding device of claim 1 whereinsaid securing means include press-stud components.
 7. A holding deviceas claimed in claim 6 wherein the press-stud components are made of anacetal resin.
 8. The combination of a nether garment and a holdingdevice as claimed in claim 1 wherein the first element is disposedentirely inside the garment, the second element is disposed entirelyoutside the garment, and the first and second elements areinterlockingly press-fitted together with the material of the garmentbetween them.